Chapter 205: Many people are bad

It stands to reason that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the quota of slaves and maids was originally set for the official eunuchs, and even the prince's house only had to use twenty people. However, Emperor Hongwu was strict at that time, and since then he has gradually relaxed. There are often high-ranking officials and nobles who voluntarily write documents to join the slaves, and there are even people who lead people to peddle them, even if they are born slaves and maids, it is not a small number. This deed is clearly written on the death deed, and it is just a girl's maid and a maid and other mixed names, and the government doesn't care about such idle things.

If Gu Shi was worried that there was no one around him, it would be common for him to send four people over, but Zhang Yue never thought that his father Zhang Zuo was not enough people around him, but he still thought about him. Thinking about the vague tone on the letter, after eating the reunion dinner and dispersing the year's bounty, he put on a thick gorilla felt cloak and turned to the flower hall in the front yard, but saw that the wine banquet had also dispersed, and only four sturdy men were standing there upright.

Zhang Yue had Peng Shisan by his side, as well as those family members in the British Mansion, all of whom were full of energy and martial arts, so when he saw their arms and shoulders for the first time, he was shocked, thinking to himself where did Dad get these four elite men. He thoughtfully stepped into the threshold, and the four of them seemed to be carved out of a mold, and they hurried forward and bowed down in unison.

Because the words in his father's letter were too incomprehensible, Zhang Yue was really a little unsure about the four servants who suddenly appeared. After telling them to get up, he sat down on the rosewood chair in the center of the flower hall, and casually asked them why they had followed his father. Unexpectedly, the four of them looked at each other for a while, and a slightly thinner man stepped forward.

"Young master, we are not new to the master, we are old family."

Old family? After staring at these four unfamiliar faces for a while, Zhang Yue was sure that even if he had a bad memory, he couldn't remember the names of so many people up and down the Zhang family, but he would never be able to distinguish between the old and the new. Just as he was puzzled, the man bowed deeply again. whispered to himself that it was Yuan Fang who followed Yuan Fang for the previous three years. With such a sentence, he finally really understood.

Liu Zhong seconded the local family Ding, but he still hasn't returned it yet, and he is still running errands outside, so it is naturally a good thing that there are four more new forces that should be regarded as loyal and reliable at this time. However, if you count it carefully, he is either a servant of the Zhang family or a person borrowed by the British government, and this newcomer can only be regarded as his father's henchman at best. There is no one who really owns himself. In the past, you couldn't hug people casually in Beijing and Nanjing, and when you first arrived in Shandong, you didn't have time, but now you have to pick a few carefully.

The first day of the first lunar month has always been a time for human exchanges, especially for the Qingzhou Mansion that has just had a master. Although Zhang Yue was late for the New Year's Eve last night, he still got up early in the morning, and after freshening up and changing his clothes and having breakfast, he first went to visit the Ling Governor's Mansion, and then went to Liu Meng's house in the Yamen of the Dusi Division. The visitors in this circle are all acquaintances, so it is naturally not good to leave with gifts. Don't sit for a while.

As soon as Zhang Yue went out, Lingxi instructed two elders to pay respects at the door and paste the door booklet to receive those officials and wealthy families who came to pay New Year's greetings. Because there are not many local relatives and friends, only two tables were set up in the flower hall, and charcoal pots were placed in the corners of the four corners. It's just a little bit of preparation. This was originally just an arrangement for the largest number of people, but who knew that from early in the morning, there were countless people who sent posts and gifts.

The eunuchs are just a courtesy, but those big families in Qingzhou Mansion are all their own sons and nephews to worship. Lingxi looked at the many people who gave gifts. So he asked someone to inquire, and then he learned that Ling Zhi's Mansion was also visited by guests, and he almost broke the threshold over there. And on her side for a while, the two tables were no longer enough, Zhang Yue was not there, she was not good at making decisions on her own, so she only groaned and went to the back room to find Du Juan.

It was the first time that Du Juan went to bed as late as last night, and he even had a headache after a hangover when he woke up early in the morning. He instructed Chunying not to use hot water, but to draw well water and wash her face directly. It wasn't until she rubbed it three times with the cold and biting water that she felt that people had some spirits, so she put a silver-red burnt cloth armor on her head over the agarwood makeup coat. As soon as she cleaned up, she heard the call of Lingxi from outside the door, and she immediately ordered Chunying to open the curtain. When someone came in, handed over the gift slip and said something, she couldn't help but laugh

"It seems that Senior Brother is quite famous in this Qingzhou Mansion now, otherwise these people with heads and faces will definitely go to flatter that Lord Ling. Where will you come here! Sister Lingxi. That's all the posts and giveaways that everyone sent in? ”

Seeing that Lingxi nodded, Du Juan took the stack of gift sheets and looked at them one by one. It just so happened that there were several copies of equal value, but a few pieces of red silk, a few delicate pieces of porcelain, and gold and silver jewelry. Her heart was as clear as a mirror, and she knew that this was the rule of the past. After reading the last two posts that were quite different, she glanced up at Lingxi, knowing that this was specially picked out, and couldn't help but marvel at Lingxi's shrewdness.

Although they are guests, Lingxi has listened to Zhang Yue's instructions and knows that Du Juan is here to uphold Du Zhen's meaning, so he will go this way. Seeing that Du Juan also noticed the two copies she picked out, she smiled and said, "The others are no different from the old examples I heard first, but these two copies were given away." This first copy says that Tong'er is alone, you must know that in addition to close relatives this year, who has sent slaves and maids in the festival, but I went to take a look, and it turned out to be a villain who beat silver. This other part is Ejiao, a specialty of Shandong, but when I opened it, I saw where Ejiao was inside, and it was clearly a piece of gold leaf. ”

"Senior brother has just been promoted, and someone has given such a generous gift!"

Du Xuanyuan only thought that there was something else wrong, who knew that this strange thing was so generous, and he was taken aback. And Lingxi smiled and waved his hand, and said: "This is just a heavy gift, and there are strange people who only gave an empty gift list and sat in the flower hall to receive the banquet, if he didn't leave, I thought he was here to cheat and eat and drink." In the past, I thought I had seen too many people, but now it seems that I am just a frog at the bottom of a well, how do I know that there are so many strange people in the world! ”

"Miss Du, is Miss Lingxi here?"

The two of them were talking here, and someone suddenly called outside, and Du Juan hurriedly told Chunying to go out and take a look. After a while, Chunying turned around and hurriedly said: "Miss, Sister Lingxi, Sister-in-law Cui outside said that someone gave gifts again, and the Tao is the land of the Han Dynasty." Because the young master was not there, it was not polite for others to go to the reception, so Sister-in-law Cui came to ask for instructions. ”

Han Wangfu? Du Juan and Lingxi exchanged glances, and a thought flashed in their hearts at the same time. Could it be that this Han King saw that Zhang Yue was Zhang Fu's nephew, so he refused to relax? At this time, Du Juan naturally did not come forward, Lingxi did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly greeted him on the high table after putting down the gift list. When she arrived at the door, she saw that there were a total of eight people from the Han Wang's Mansion, and the gifts were a whole car.

This cart of gifts entered the door, not to mention that some of the guests who were sitting and drinking in the flower hall came out to see the movement, even those who visited the prefect also quietly slipped out to probe their brains. When the King of Han was in the Qingzhou Mansion, the people here almost suffered all the hardships, and until now the notoriety of the King of Han can still stop children from crying at night. The officials of Qingzhou Mansion have to give gifts to the Han Wangfu during the festival, but the Han Wangfu has never heard of which official gives gifts, let alone such a car.

Taking the thick gift list, Lingxi tried his best to resist the urge to open it and look at it, so he had to explain that Zhang Yue was not there when he went out to greet the guests, and invited the officer who took the lead and the other sergeants who escorted the gifts to the flower hall to rest and eat. However, in front of many onlookers, the officer who took the lead shook his head stiffly.

"The king of Han has an order, and he can't stay when he arrives at the courtesy. If Lord Xiao Zhang comes back, ask the girl to tell him to go to the Han Mansion in Le'an on the third day of the new year. ”

Although it is only an understatement, for others, this shock is really not light. Countless people looked curiously at the big black lacquer boxes, looked at the gift list in Lingxi's hand, and guessed what the box of gifts from the King of Han was. Although Lingxi knew that he was afraid that things would become more and more bizarre by spreading falsehoods, he couldn't open the box in public anyway, so he had to order someone to carry the things to the warehouse. When all the storage was locked, she went to find Du Juan again with the gift list, and this time she really ran out of ideas.

Zhang Yue didn't come back until after noon, and as soon as he took the car into the alley in front of the mansion, he found that it was a lively scene of endless traffic. When he stepped into the door of his house, listened to the report of the long attendant, and saw the guests in the flower hall from afar, he immediately had a number, until he learned that the king of Han had sent someone to send a cart of gifts, and he really had a headache.

What is Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, doing, thinking that his eldest uncle Zhang Xin is not miserable enough, and now he is ready to kill him?

For a while, he complained in his heart about Zhu Di's previous words. If Zhang Qian hadn't taken him to the Han Palace, Zhu Gaoxu was afraid that he might not have noticed such an insignificant figure as him. He took a deep breath and walked straight inside, until he entered the Hanging Flower Gate and met the Lingxi who hurriedly came out, and he asked in a deep voice, "What did the King of Han give?" ”

"A bucket of South Sea pearls, a box of five gold bricks, two hundred taels. In addition, it is python satin, Lu silk, Hangzhou silk, in short, just look at the things on the gift list, the value is no less than five thousand taels of silver. ”

Seeing Zhang Yue gasp, Lingxi explained in a low voice: "I heard that when the eldest master and the king of Han were friendly, the king of Han often had heavy gifts during the New Year's holidays, but it was not as good as the young master now, I am afraid that it also has the intention of appeasing the young master, after all, there was a scene before." In addition, two of the guests who ate and drank in the flower hall also gave heavy gifts, and one was empty-handed, waiting in the flower hall peacefully, and the patience was very good. ”